Our Commitment to Privacy

At Spark Beacon, privacy isn't an afterthought – it's our foundation. We believe you should be able to share your emotions without fear of surveillance, tracking, or data exploitation. This policy explains exactly what we collect, why, and how we protect it.

What We Collect

When You Share Your Mood:

✓Mood Score (1-7): Your emotional state (Angry to Ecstatic)
✓Fuzzed Location: Randomized coordinates within 1-2km of your actual location
✓City/Country: General geographic context (e.g., "Melbourne, Australia")
✓Optional Message: Up to 200 characters if you choose to share
✓IP Address (temporary): Used only for rate limiting (1 submission per hour)
✓Timestamp: When you submitted your mood

What We DON'T Collect:

✗No email addresses or personal identifiers
✗No precise GPS coordinates (location is fuzzed)
✗No device fingerprinting or tracking cookies
✗No browsing history or third-party analytics
✗No social media connections

How We Protect Your Privacy

🌐 Location Fuzzing

Your exact location is randomly offset by 1-2 kilometers before storage. This means your mood appears at the suburb/district level, never at your home or workplace.

🛡️ Rate Limiting

IP addresses are used solely to prevent spam (1 submission per hour per IP). They are not linked to your mood data and are not stored long-term.

🔐 Data Encryption

All data is transmitted over HTTPS and stored in encrypted databases. We use industry-standard security practices to protect your information.

👤 Anonymous by Default

No login required. No user accounts. No way to link multiple submissions to the same person. Each mood is a standalone, anonymous data point.

How We Use Your Data

We use aggregated, anonymized mood data to:

•Create the global emotional heatmap visualization
•Generate regional mood statistics and trends
•Improve the service and user experience
•Support research on collective emotional wellbeing (with proper ethical review)

Data Sharing

We will NEVER sell, rent, or trade your data. Period.

Aggregated, anonymized statistics may be shared with:

✓Academic researchers (with ethical approval)
✓Public health organizations (for wellbeing insights)
✓The public (via our open heatmap visualization)

Note: All shared data is aggregated and cannot be traced back to individuals.

Your Rights (GDPR Compliance)

Even though submissions are anonymous, you have rights:

•Right to Access: Request what data we have (though it's anonymized)
•Right to Erasure: Request deletion of your submissions (if identifiable)
•Right to Object: Opt out of data processing for research purposes

To exercise these rights, contact us at: [email protected]

Cookies & Local Storage

We use minimal local storage for:

•Session ID: A random identifier to prevent duplicate submissions (stored in your browser)
•Rate Limit Tracking: To show you when you can submit again

No tracking cookies. No advertising cookies. No third-party analytics.

Children's Privacy

Spark Beacon is intended for users 13 years and older. We do not knowingly collect data from children under 13. If you believe a child has submitted data, please contact us immediately.

Changes to This Policy

We may update this policy to reflect changes in our practices or legal requirements. Major changes will be announced on our homepage. Continued use of Spark Beacon after updates constitutes acceptance of the new policy.

Questions or Concerns?

We take privacy seriously. If you have questions, concerns, or feedback about this policy:

Email: [email protected]

GitHub: github.com/feiyu23/sparkbeacon

Privacy Policy